Search Intensifies For Local Hiker Missing In Sierra Nevada Mountains

PACIFIC PALISADES (CBSLA.com) — The search intensified Sunday for a missing 53-year-old Pacific Palisades hiker missing in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Andrea Fujii, reporting for CBS2 and KCAL9, spoke to the man's anxious partner Sunday.

Larry Conn went on a hike through the Inyo National Forest on October 19 and hasn't been seen since.

Claus Svendsen, Conn's partner and co-parent of their 7-year-old-son, is particularly worried. He told Fujii, "It's painful not to be able to physically be there to help search, feeling like you're doing something."

Forty staff from the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, along with Yosemite National Park, Sierra Madre Search and Rescue as well as a 3-member canine unit searched the hiking area through the weekend.

Officials said the search included ground and air crews.

Conditions in the area where Conn is believed to have been stranded are considered "challenging," according to the National Park Service. The terrain is rugged, temperatures range from the mid 40's during the day to the low 20's at night.

Conn was supposed to have returned home last Monday but a snow storm on the mountain left him stranded.

Said Svendsen, "I'm just praying he's mobile, hoping he's working on his exit route. Just come home, Larry. Please."

Svendsen told Fujii that Conn had food and provisions for five days. He has been missing for nine.

The search will continue Monday. Another snow storm is expected to hit the mountain area later this week so it is imperative, Conn is found sooner than later.